Exploring the Multiverse

As we sit here at the start of the year, we’re reflecting on where we are and where we are headed – as individuals, as a society, and as a planet.

We start with the big picture, by which we mean our place in the cosmos, and our ever-changing understanding of how the universe works, and what it’s made of.

In her book of essays, Marcia Bartusiak writes about our “cosmic address,” where we stand in the universe. Bartusiak is a professor of science writing at MIT, and author of Dispatches from Planet 3.

It’s now quite common to think of our planet as the third rock from the sun, but that wasn’t always the case. And our understanding of where we sit in our solar system, our galaxy, and the universe is continuing to change.

The March for Science drew thousands of science supporters, but the science event of the year was the Great American Eclipse, with millions of viewers highlighting an unexpected enthusiasm. Missions to Jupiter and Saturn also grabbed headlines. Gravitational wave researchers scored a Nobel Prize, and then announced an even bigger accomplishment – both seeing and hearing a neutron star collision. And President Trump calls for a return to deep space, at the expense of earth science.